The NHL Network (1975–79)
The NHL Network was an American television syndication package that broadcast National Hockey League games from the through seasons. The NHL Network was distributed by the Hughes Television Network. Conception After being dropped by NBC after the season, the NHL had no national, network television contract in the United States. So in response to this, the league decided to put together a network of independent stations (covering approximately, 55% of the country). Coverage summary Games typically aired on Monday nights (beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET) or Saturday afternoons. The package was offered to local stations with no rights fee. Profits would be derived from the advertising, which was about evenly split between the network and the local station. The Monday night games were often billed as The NHL Game of the Week. Only viewers in Buffalo, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Detroit and Los Angeles got the Game of the Week on a different channel than their local team's games. Therefore, whenever a team had a “home” game, the NHL Network aired the home team's broadcast rather than their own. During the season, the NHL Network showed selected games from the NHL Super Series (the big one in that package was Red Army at Philadelphia, but the package didn't include Red Army at Montreal on New Year's Eve 1975, which was seen only on CBC) as well as some playoff games. During the season, the NHL Network showed 12 regular season games on Monday nights plus the All-Star Game. By (the final season of the NHL Network's existence), there would be 18 Monday night games and 12 Saturday afternoon games covered. 1979 Challenge Cup replaced the All-Star Game. It was a best of three series between the NHL All-Stars against the Soviet Union national squad. Only the third period of Game 2, which was on a Saturday afternoon, was shown on CBS as part of The CBS Sports Spectacular. The network, the show, and their sponsors had a problem with the rink board advertising that the NHL sold at Madison Square Garden, and refused to allow them to be shown on TV. As a result, CBS' viewers were unable to see the far boards above the yellow kickplate, and could only see players' skates when the play moved to that side of the ice. Games 1 and 3 were shown on the NHL Network, where the advertising was no problem. Saturday afternoon coverage When Saturday afternoon games were added, the NHL said that they would start at 1 p.m. and end by 4 p.m. Eastern Time Zone. Apparently, markets with only three stations were reluctant to give up prime time programming slots. Ultimately, the plan failed, as not only did they not gain new markets, many stations that already carried the Monday game didn't pick up the Saturday one. A few of the markets in the Eastern Time Zone that aired the Saturday afternoon games included Boston, Buffalo, New York City, Washington, D.C. and Springfield, Massachusetts. In addition, the NHL gave stations the option of starting the Saturday afternoon broadcasts at 1 or starting at 2, with the full open and a first period summary preceding live action. WDCA (the Washington, D.C. affiliate) and WWLP (the Springfield, Massachusetts affiliate) took that option. WPGH in Pittsburgh and WTCG in Atlanta didn't pick up the Saturday package, leaving their markets without Saturday coverage. WPGH and WTCG also showed the Monday games on tape delay at midnight and 11:30 p.m. ET, respectively. Meanwhile, by 1978, WUAB in Cleveland and WBFF in Baltimore dropped hockey coverage completely. Also in Buffalo, the Saturday afternoon games during the months of January and February were on WGRZ-TV. Meanwhile, the Saturday games during the month of March were on WUTV. WUTV carried the Monday Night Hockey package, while WGR was the over-the-air station for the Buffalo Sabres. In New York, WWOR-TV did not carry Saturday games in the months of January or February. Meanwhile, WNEW (also in New York) carried the March Saturday games (at 2 p.m.). In both Buffalo and New York, college basketball and World Championship Tennis knocked the NHL off its usual Monday night carrier. In , KBJR in Duluth picked up the Saturday afternoon package and dropped the Monday night games. In that same season, WHMB-TV in Indianapolis joined the network with Saturday afternoon games at 2 p.m. and Monday night games at 11 p.m. In addition, the Iowa PBS stations had dropped the NHL by this point. Playoff coverage The 1976 Stanley Cup Finals on the NHL Network marked the first time that the NHL's championship series was nationally televised in its entirety in the United States. Starting in the 1978 playoffs, the NHL Network began simulcasting many games with Hockey Night in Canada. In these games, Dan Kelly, who was the NHL Network's primary play-by-play broadcaster, was assigned to do play-by-play along with HNIC color commentators. This happened in Game 7 of the quarter-final series between the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Islanders. The entire 1979 Stanley Cup Finals between the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers was simulcast as well. However, had that final went to Game 7, then that game would have been broadcast on ABC. Schedules 1976–77 1977–78 Monday night package Saturday afternoon package Affiliates In most U.S. NHL cities, the Hughes NHL affiliate was the same one that aired the local team's games. About a couple of dozen other affiliates were UHF channels in the Hinterlands. The network had 47 stations for the season. Despite the presence of the Minnesota North Stars, there was no NHL Network affiliate in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Ratings By the time that NBC’s contract with the NHL ended after the , they were getting a 3.8 rating. Meanwhile, the ratings for the NHL Network in its first month of existence were a 3.1 in New York, 1.9 in Los Angeles, and a 1.3 in Chicago. By , the Monday night games were seen by about 1 million viewers; 300,000 of which were in the Boston area. Also in 1978–79, the 2 p.m. ET version of the Saturday broadcasts (with the first period cut out) was picked up by all participating affiliates except Boston. Announcers Play-by-play *Marv Albert *Fred Cusick *Ted Darling (primarily in games involving Buffalo) *Don Earle *Jim Gordon *Gene Hart *Dan Kelly *Jiggs McDonald *Sam Nover *Brad Palmer *Tim Ryan Marv Albert was the lead play-by-play man during the first season. During this particular period, he was paired with a local guest announcer. They typically, would split play-by-play duties. Color commentary *Don Awrey *Curt Bennett *Bill Chadwick *Terry Crisp *Phil Esposito *John Ferguson, Sr. *Eddie Giacomin *Bobby Hull *Steve Jensen *George Michael *Stan Mikita *Lou Nanne *Bobby Orr *Chico Resch *Garry Unger Other *Stan Fischler *Jim Simpson *Dick Stockton *Scott Wahle Dick Stockton served as host for a season. Meanwhile, Stan Fischler was on the broadcasts as an intermission analyst. References External links *Monday Night Hockey (1970s) *Help: The NHL Network (circa 1975-1979) *Sportscasting History *The NHL Network (1975-79) - Google Search (timeline) Category:Media